Diamond Head Classic

[Shaolin Swat]

Barring player movement, Utah State looks like they should be a very strong team next season. It looks like they only lose 1 starter and 1 other player who played more than 10 mins/game (9th man based off of minutes played).

[steviep123]

The past several years we were in tournaments that got us good Q1 opportunities in the first game in which winning got us another Q1 opponent. 2 years ago it was beating Cincinnati to get a game vs. Duke, and last year it was beating Seton Hall which got us a game vs. Virginia. Those games were huge in helping us get to the tournament. The previous year we beat TCU to get a game with Maryland (TCU's SoS was 44 and MD was 32 that year. URI was 86 only 6 spots lower than the 92 of this year - via CBSSports). The 2014-15 season we played Kansas (#1 SoS), Santa Clara (116) and Ga Tech (35). That tournament had some traditional good teams with Mich St, Tennessee and Marquette also in the field. We lost to Kansas in our first round, putting us in the loser's bracket, but still one good Q1 game that with a win could have gotten us opportunities with more potential Q1 opponents.

We need more tournaments like those that give us Q1 opportunities. For this coming season's Jamaica tournament with only LSU and Utah State so far (both NCAA teams), I don't know how either are going to be next year. Ordinarily I'd say LSU would remain a quality opponent, but we don't know how the FBI thing is going to play out. But other than that, and assuming Utah State doesn't fall back, I hope we find a way to play both, beating at least one of them. I also hope the tournament finds other quality opponents.

[URIFIJI]

I have been to a bunch of the Holiday tournaments. I loved the Old Spice Tournament at WDW - as stated above the level of competition was great too - Kansas/Santa Clara/Georgia Tech. The arena was fantastic. The cost of the trip was very reasonable too - Orlando at Thanksgiving time - would like to continue to look at similar tournaments like the EMERALD COAST CLASSIC - https://www.emeraldcoastclassic.com

VCU is playing in it this year along with Purdue/Tennessee/Florida State - that's a great line up - all 4 teams in NCAA Dance